Hackathon
Challenge 4: Work-life balance and smart working
What problem can you solve with your coding skills? What about that app you always wanted to develop? We are kick-starting the womENcourage 2019 conference with a one-day-long hackathon, where you can use your coding skills to bring your ideas to life and win amazing prizes.
To participate in the hackathon:
- Apply for the scholarship by the 27th of May, 2019. There are 100 scholarships available specifically for the hackathon participants. Please see the scholarship page for eligibility details.
- Wait until the 21st of June, 2019 for the scholarship notification. If you receive the scholarship that includes the hackathon, you will be automatically accepted into the hackathon.
- Register. If you receive the hackathon scholarship, you will be instructed via e-mail how to register for the 3-day Celebration. On the other hand, if your hackathon scholarship application is unsuccessful, you can then register for the 2-day Celebration before the early-bird deadline.
Want to sponsor the hackathon? We are currently looking for more business sponsors who would like to propose a hackathon challenge. For more information, please email us: acm_w_europe_hackathon@acm.org.
Want to mentor the hackathon participants? We are currently looking for volunteers (male or female) who would like to mentor the hackathon participants. Ideal candidates are mentors who:
- Have experience attending hackathons,
- Have experience developing software from scratch,
- Are nice, friendly and happy to teach others. 🙂
Mentors are selected on individual basis. If you would like to volunteer to be a mentor, please get in touch with us: acm_w_europe_hackathon@acm.org.
NEWS: Hackathon participants can access useful information and documents here
Preliminary Schedule
| 8:30 | Welcome |
| 9:00 | Ice-breaker |
| 10:00 | Tips for successful hackathon projects |
| 10:15 | Coding starts |
| 12:30 | Lunch |
| 17:00 | Presentations |
| 18:00 | womENcourage 2019 Celebration – Welcome Reception |
| 19:00 | Presentation of Hackathon Awards |
Hackathon FAQs
A hackathon is best described as an “invention marathon”. Anyone who has an interest in technology attends a hackathon to learn, build and share their creations in a relaxed and welcoming atmosphere. You don’t have to be a programmer and you certainly don’t have to be majoring in Computer Science.
No. There are many weekend-long or 24-hour-long hackathons, but ours is 11-hour-long. We start at 8:30am and continue working on the projects until 18:30pm. After that, we will host project presentations, where you can demonstrate your work to the judges. The prizes will be awarded at the womENcourage conference Welcome Reception, which starts at 19:30pm.
Yes! A lot of people go to hackathons without teams. For this reason, we do not expect you to have a team – in fact, we will ask to individually select the topics around which they may want to build projects. We will match you with other participants who have similar interests, and introduce you to your teammates beforehand, so you can brainstorm your ideas before the event.
There are 100 places available at the hackathon.
Apply for the scholarship to participate. There are 100 scholarships available specifically for the hackathon participants.
Yes. There will be lunch provided in the room between 12:00-14:00. If you’ve got specific dietary requirements, you should let the event organizers know during the registration, and they’ll be more than happy to make arrangements.
Not a problem! It’s absolutely okay if you don’t have prior technology experience or programming prerequisites before going to a hackathon, it’s more about your interest in making a jumpstart in technology.
If you want to learn how to code before the hackathon, there’s a fantastic blog post that you should read. Afterwards, you should check out the following: Treehouse, Codecademy and the Major League Hacking blog to get you started.
But it’s not all just about coding. All projects need variety of skills: people who can design the software, take care of the business side of things, and have domain expertise in areas specific to the product, such as education, transport, health etc. Bring your skills to the table!
During the event, there will also be mentors, who can provide programming support and help you build your project.
You might think your project isn’t impressive or it might not be finished, so you don’t want to present it. You should present it anyway! Honestly, a hackathon isn’t about being the best or being competitive. It’s all about having fun, making friends and learning how to become better at things you care about. Presenting your hack gives you a chance to be proud of what you’ve done, and you should be proud.
Questions, queries or requests for support should be e-mailed to acm_w_europe_hackathon@acm.org.